‘Simple actions’ can end violence against women

Experts hail Bystander Approach

SIMPLE interventions rather than superheroes are needed to tackle violence against women, a conference heard yesterday.

Not laughing at a sexist joke or telling a friend to “cop on” are among the actions people can take in what is known as the Bystander Approach, an audience at Stormont was told.

Professor Louise Crowley said it does not have to be about donning a cape and physically intervening.

The University College Cork law professor said: “From hearing from students and staff who say ‘bystander intervention, gosh, I thought when I started I was basically learning how to fist fight. I was worried I had to put on a cape and dive in and sort out situations’.

“In fact, that’s very rarely the situation and what we want to do is understand the range of ways in which an intervention can be made – interruption, removal, distraction, don’t laugh at a joke, tell your friend to cop on.” That was echoed by Dr Jackson Katz, the keynote speaker at the event – the biggest Bystander Approach conference in Northern Ireland which was organised by the Executive Office.

He said: “This is not a superhero model, the Bystander Approach.”

Dr Katz added his main message is men “especially those of influence, have a much more important role to play in preventing violence against women than we have shown to date.”

He said while women’s leadership “has been transformative”, there needs to be more action from men.

Prof Crowley said: “It’s awakening people’s recognition that although you may not be the source of the problem, you are part of the source of the solution.

“Not all men are perpetrators of violence or sexual harassment, but all men can do something about it.”

Dr Katz, co-founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention, also said

pornography “normalises sexual violence”. He added: “Anybody who thinks this is about sexual freedom hasn’t been paying attention.

“This is not about sexual expression. It’s normalising misogyny and abuse. “The normalisation of men strangling women in pornography is why it’s happening more and more in quote unquote real life. We need to do better.” Despite Stormont’s paralysis, it is aimed to have a draft framework for an Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy by the end of the year. Addressing the audience virtually, Health Minister Robin Swann said he is committed to “challenge attitudes and behaviours that contribute towards violence”. Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said the strategy will “work alongside and be complementary to the Gender Equality Strategy”.

Porn is not about freedom, it normalises misogyny

PLEA Jackson Katz